An Iranian nuclear scientist who claimed he slipped away from his CIA captors has not been seen publicly since his heroic return to Tehran last year and could be facing an investigation as a possible turncoat, an opposition Web site said.
The report on the Web site Iranbriefing.net says that Shahram Amiri is now being held in a Tehran prison, where he allegedly has faced beatings so severe that he had to be hospitalized for a week.
The Web site’s account could not be verified, but it purports to offer the first details on Amiri’s fate since he surfaced in the US six months ago amid an array of contradictory stories between Tehran and Washington.
Amiri’s return to Tehran in July was portrayed by Iranian authorities as a propaganda coup.
The nuclear scientist claimed he was kidnapped by US agents in May 2009 while on a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. Iran’s state media said Amiri had snubbed a fortune in payoffs by his purported CIA captors and then escaped with inside information about the US’ covert operations against Tehran. Officials said a TV movie was in the works.
US officials, however, said Amiri willingly cooperated and had been paid a total of US$5 million by the CIA for “significant” information about Iran’s nuclear program.
Amiri turned up in Washington at the Iranian Interest Section at the Pakistan Embassy after a series of baffling videos that presented contradictory stories: one claiming he was on the run from the CIA and the other saying he was studying for a doctorate in the US.
Amiri then decided to leave the US — but without the money — in July, US officials said. His return to Tehran, however, was the last time Amiri was seen in public.
Iranian authorities have not offered any information on his whereabouts and his family and colleagues have made no public statements as to his fate.
The Farsi-language account posted on the Iranbriefing.net Web site claims to pick up Amiri’s trail after his highly publicized return.
It cited anonymous family members as saying Amiri was first held in a safe house in Tehran and allowed weekend visits with relatives at the Talaiie cultural center, which is operated by Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard.
The Web site quoted family members as being told that Amiri’s movements were restricted for “his own safety.”
The report says — without citing any source — that Amiri was later moved to a former military lockup, the Heshmatieh Prison, in Tehran, where he allegedly faced harsh interrogations and beatings that left him in a military-run hospital afterward for a week.
The Web site is operated by the IranBriefing Foundation, which describes itself as a “non-profit human rights organization” based in the US that focuses on the role of the Revolutionary Guard and other Iranian security agencies. Officials at the group could not be reached immediately for comment.
The reports — if true — would fit into Iran’s increasing attention to trying to plug security holes inside its nuclear program, which the West and others fear could lead to the development of atomic weapons. Iran claims it only seeks reactors for power and research.
In October, one of Iran’s vice presidents, Ali Akbar Salehi — who is now acting foreign minister — acknowledged that some personnel at nuclear facilities had passed secrets to the West in exchange for payment. Salehi claimed that it “awakened” security forces to impose tighter controls.
Iran also acknowledged that a sophisticated computer worm, known as Stuxnet, had infiltrated systems at nuclear sites, including briefly halting activity at Iran’s uranium enrichment lab. Iran’s intelligence chief has accused the CIA and Israeli and British spy agencies of being behind the cyber attacks.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
RSS